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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29656362">Hidden</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrspanda/pseuds/mrspanda'>mrspanda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Witness Protection</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:08:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29656362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrspanda/pseuds/mrspanda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Halloween, James and Lily are in hiding. Claire is attempting to sort things out on their behalf. <br/>(Kind of modern day because of Claire and the aliases, Claire is on a semester abroad in England).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dumbledore is an ass</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So?” James demanded, striding urgently across the apartment the second he heard the door. A reddened, panting face emerged from underneath the layers of orange fur, and Claire threw her false head to the ground in a defeated gesture. <br/>She shook her head in answer, “Still no luck.” James’ expression was one of controlled stress. <br/>“I do have some good news though. I’ve found somewhere for you to go, when this is over.” The figure who had been lurking behind James, now pushed him gently aside, to bring Claire a glass of water. Lily gestured to sit on the sofa, and the pair slumped down, Claire still shedding her clothing. “Obviously we can’t go until things are sorted, but you should come back with me. I know it’s not the most exciting choice, but I’ve worked out the logistics, we can easily pull this off. You’ll be safest out of the country. Everyone thinks you’re dead, but it’s only a matter of time before someone figures it out. Especially with Snape on their side.” At the mention of Snape’s name, James stopped his anxious pacing and spared a concerned glance for his wife. <br/>“Yeah, you’re right.” Lily sounded small. Before this week, James had never seen this side of her. Of course they had been scared before, that was nothing new, much as they loved their son, they’d been terrified to find out she was pregnant, and later, being told that Voldemort was targeting Harry. The past few years had been nothing but fear and the endless courage needed to overcome it. But this was different. While James had been running round manically, hounding Claire for information every day, pouring energy into making her ridiculous costumes, and coming up with plots to break Sirius out of prison, Lily had been absent. She seemed almost tranquil, staring into the distance. He knew she hadn’t given up, nothing in this world could put out the fire that lived inside Lily Evans. It was just something that existed in the moments where there was nothing left for them to do. When they knew that nothing could make it better, she went somewhere else in her mind. And James was the last person to take that peace away from her.</p><p>Claire stayed a while, recounting in more detail what had happened. James made notes, as always, scrawling with a quill in one of his ratty notebooks, adding to the record of events that he would undoubtedly obsess over for the next day. <br/>“Does Dumbledore still not believe you?” James asked, although he knew the answer. They all did, it had settled inside them as a deep resignation. There had been so many attempts. Claire had even brought him proof of James and Lily’s survival, risking their safety, but the old man had simply nodded and made some comment about Harry being better off with his aunt. It was unlikely Dumbledore had even met Petunia, but details like that didn’t seem to matter to him. Or maybe they did. Dumbledore was too sly for James to read, especially not through Claire’s reports. Although she was doing her best, the magical world was still a challenge, she wouldn't notice the same things he did.<br/>“Same as always. I told him to read my mind, like you said, but he just chuckled.”<br/>“What a bastard.” Lily smiled at him. It had been a growing sentiment in the Order, even before Halloween. There were few left who didn't see through the doddery old facade. Even though they all knew it was unlikely, she asked,  “What about Remus? Did Dumbledore tell you where he is yet?”<br/>“He said some cryptic nonsense about people only being found if they want to.” <br/>At this, James reached across to hold Lily’s hand, his thumb making small circles against her cold skin. If it hadn’t been for the chaos of the last week, Claire would’ve felt uncomfortable intruding in such an intimate moment. Instead, the silence felt safe, filled with pain and worry, but free from the dangers of more bad news. She repeated the only thing they had left to hold on to. “It’s going to be okay.”</p><p>As the evening went on, they moved away from topics of the war. Claire ordered pizza under the name T.Swift, which baffled James, and led to a lengthy lecture on muggle music artists from both of the girls, which he took very seriously, happy to see Lily’s eyes glimmering with life again. They argued for some time, James occasionally stirring up more agitation by innocently contributing what he had picked up from school, asking if T-Rex and Bowie were still popular. Thinking about school stung in his chest, momentarily making him feel again the rage, at Dumbledore, at Peter, at himself for not noticing, for not doing more. But he buried it deep down, repeating to himself that nothing would have changed by morning, he should let them have tonight. By the end of the night, James was in a blonde wig dancing along to Love Story, the love of his life swept up in his arms, and Claire was lying stretched out on the sofa, under mountains of blankets, a book on international law propped open on her lap, bored eyes looking anywhere but the page. They all pretended very well.</p><p>James was the one to tidy away the pizza boxes, to hang up Claire’s Lorax costume, to do the very least he could. He would be eternally grateful that people like Claire existed. James Potter had been brought up to trust in the goodness of strangers, but the war had taught them all that trust could be misplaced. Tidying also meant he didn’t have to face going to bed just yet. He was still unused to the muggle flat, the devices were complicated enough that he could spend minutes figuring them out. He could ignore the hole where he should be saying goodnight to his son.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Fuck Dumbledore</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: I will generally be including the odd curse</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>James awoke suddenly, sweating and panting, the vivid image of Voldemort standing over Harry’s cot still imprinted in his mind. Next to him Lily lay, still unconscious, her long eyelashes crusted with tears. James was relieved to see her still sleeping, every night since Halloween had been hell, neither of them feeling able to lie quietly in the dark. He paused, looking at her, and was swept by a pang of gratitude, no matter what happened now, Voldemort couldn’t touch them. He’d failed, and they were safe, tucked away in a muggle flat. Harry was alive, Sirius and Remus were alive, things had not turned out for the worst. Comforted by the sound of Lily’s breathing, James felt his heart rate return to normal. </p><p>Claire had left a note on the kitchen counter, ‘I’m going to the shops later, call me if you want anything.’ James found himself staring at it for a long time, frozen to the spot. Time passed around him, and he sunk to the floor, exhausted. When later Lily found him there, she sat down next to him wordlessly and curled up, placing her head gently in his lap, and playing with his hands. He pressed a kiss gently to the top of her head, and murmured “he’s going to be okay, we’ll get him back.” He felt her nod gently. It was not a dispute, they were going to get their son back.</p><p>“Hello, it’s Lil-” a loud voice on the other end of the line spat back at her, “Yes I bloody well know who it is, you’ve been phoning us every day, in case you hadn't noticed. And, as we’ve told you every day, we’ve had enough of you freaks bothering us. I guess you want to know about the baby? Well, low and behold we’ve still got the wretched thing. It won't stop crying either. Every time we go to take it to the orphanage one of your lot shows up, and we find ourselves back home. It’s getting really f-ing annoying.” The phone hung up. Both James and Lily breathed heavily, bodies pressed tightly together. It was the greatest comfort that they had. And it wasn’t as thought the Dursleys were going to mistreat a baby, surely?</p><p>“What has Claire got you making today?” Lily asked after a minute. <br/>They detached enough that James could look over the costume sheet. “Urmmm. It just says… God?” James racked his brains trying to remember the religious section of muggle studies. It seemed that Claire’s costumes were always the most eclectic of references, even after Lily took the time out to explain their cultural relevance. “What does God look like?” <br/>Lily snorted. “That’s quite a question.”<br/>“What do you mean?” James started rifling through the fabric box, picking up shiny pieces of material and holding them against himself childishly.<br/>“Welllll, the whole point is that he doesn’t really have a body? He’s usually just a booming voice in the sky, or he sends down messengers, you know?”<br/>“You know what Lily. I really don’t know. How the hell am I meant to make a costume of someone without a body? What?”<br/>"I don't know, maybe you could just make something with a beard?" Lily's voice trailed off in contemplation.<br/>Digging through the box, James' hand brushed something spiky. Pulling it out, he saw that he was holding a handful of metal studs. Sirius would like those for his jacket. Fuck. Sirius.</p><p>Mood appropriately killed, James left Lily on the couch where she’d picked up a book, and, quickly kissing her on the cheek, went to the kitchen and began making food. He decided that this would be considered lunch, even though they had not been keeping up with the time of day. Time was just chunks of worry interrupted by Claire. </p><p>Claire herself didn’t return until late. When she did, she was dressed in a mockery of a witch’s robes, with a flimsy pointed hat and green paint covering her face. James anxiously started questioning her, as always, but Lily had to stifle a giggle when she saw the outfit Claire had chosen. “Please tell me you went to see Dumbledore like that,” she laughed. Claire did a twirl.<br/>“I think it’s quite fetching! Better than the Danny Devito one anyway. At least this way I don’t get asked weird questions about polygon potions.” She sat down, James immediately at her side, notebook in hand, as always. “So, Remus is alive.”</p><p>Both Lily and James’ eyes were fixed on her with rapt attention as she recounted her visit with Dumbledore. “There was a girl there, Mary? Anyway, she asked who I was, and I said I knew you guys, and was here for updates about Harry, or Sirius, or Remus, you know, the usual. She seemed surprised she hadn’t met me before, but I managed to brush it aside. I urm- I didn’t know if I should tell her about you guys, you didn’t say I could, so I didn’t, and you’d think Dumbledore would’ve told her if it was safe, but she was such a mess. I-” Claire stopped speaking suddenly, noticing Lily had started crying. <br/>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry-” she apologised, burying her face in her knees. “She’s one of my best friends.” Lily explained, “please tell her. Please. She's lost so much.” Lily swallowed, as James put his arm around her, drawing her into his shoulder. <br/>“What did she say about Remus?” he asked, bringing the attention back to their debrief.<br/>“She’s seen him! Apparently he came back from wherever he’s been. He’s back home, I assume you know where that is. It sounded like he was in a bad way though.”<br/>Lily came out from under James’ arm, looking concerned. “A bad way?”<br/>“Drinking, blaming himself. It doesn’t sound like Dumbledore has told him anything.”<br/>James had an expression of pure fury that Claire had only seen in relation to Peter. He spoke slowly, his voice cold, the venom in it chilling every word. “You mean Dumbledore hasn’t told him Sirius is innocent?”<br/>Claire shook her head solemnly, as Lily placed a calming hand on her husband’s arm. James shook it off, standing up, and storming out of the room. They let him go. James’ usual method of coping with feeling was to get up on a broomstick and fly, and the four walls of their apartment were feeling more and more like a prison, as his anger burst out of him. James was not a destructive person. In fact he reserved his anger for very few things. But, on top of everything else, the mental image of Remus, alone, made him explode.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I got tipsy and wrote another chapter bc Covid sucks and I miss my human rip &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Dumbledore I literally cannot believe you would just leave Remus thinking the worst you bastard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Claire chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day came, far too soon for Claire’s liking. Bleary eyed and joints crunching, she rolled her aching body off the aging sofa which she now called her bed. A million worries immediately filled her mind, and as she showered, and dressed herself (quite ordinarily, apart from an off yellow beanie and a personalised Mia jumper) she began to put her thoughts into order. Life would be so much easier if wizards were willing to use phones. But, she supposed, if they did, Voldemort’s followers would have found a way to tap into the network. Maybe it was for the best. There was a guilty part of her that was somehow enjoying playing the secret agent, infiltrating this world that was supposed to be hidden from her. If it wasn’t for the horrific circumstances, she would have reveled in the culture, and in her new friends. She hoped that a time would come where they could share all of its wonders with her. James and Lily were some of the warmest and most kind-hearted people she had ever met. It was all far too unfair.</p><p>Claire reflected on how strange it was that her life had changed so much in the past week. It wasn’t as though she had even entertained the thought of not helping the Potters, it simply wasn't an option to her, but it was still a completely insane turn around. She almost felt guilty for her more mundane thoughts, for the elements of her ordinary life that she was maintaining. Uni was one thing, slightly off the rails, but just about getting by, but it was the way she anxiously checked her pockets for her railcard that jarred her. With the seriousness of what she was doing it seemed silly to be thinking about student discounts or train tickets. Seeing her bus pass her, she picked up to a gentle jog, saying a little prayer to herself, and in no time found herself on a train headed South to London.</p><p>The journey was long, and beautiful for the most part, rolling hills and fields with livestock lined the railway track. She had intended to study, to catch up on some of the work she had been falling behind on, but every time she opened up her laptop to watch her lectures, she found herself absent mindedly finding distractions. The tabs open on the top of her screen reflected her avoidance. Resignedly she accepted her fate of unproductivity, and instead cursed the distance between her and her home, her friends back there, her family. In time, the steady motion of the train, and the gentle fuzz of noise from the carriage lulled her gently to sleep.</p><p>It was Claire’s first time in London, and the city hit her in full force. A seemingly endless web of cliches, it felt almost fictional. Not that Claire had been short of strange places lately. Pigeons swirled round her feet as she left Euston, people rushing around her as she tried to find the entrance to the tube station. In a moment of bravery she went up to a lady smoking a cigarette at the entrance, to ask directions. A flurry of words came out of the woman’s mouth, but she caught enough of them to make her way down the escalators into the depths of London’s tube system. It was only now that she began to worry about what might happen when she got to the flat. She was not a timid person by nature, a life of theatre had given her the confidence to approach situations head on, but she had seen the pain that James and Lily were going through, she couldn’t imagine this was going to be better.</p><p>Remus Lupin was exactly as she expected.</p><p>The room was messy, filled with cigarette smoke and empty bottles, and in the doorway a tall, skinny man was leaning, staring directly at her. “I’m a friend of James and Lily’s. You’re going to want to hear what I have to say.” Remus made a small movement, and for a second Claire thought he was going to slam the door in her face. Instead, he went inside, wordlessly sitting down and lighting a cigarette with his wand. She wasn’t a smoker, but she did note that he didn’t offer her one. He wanted to get this over with as much as she did. Determinedly, Claire ploughed ahead. She told him all that she knew. Lily and James were alive, and in hiding, Harry was with his aunt, Sirius was innocent. His expression was unreadable, and what he did next shocked Claire to her core, although, in relation to the events of the past week, she supposed it was not too unusual. He stood, staring at her, and croaked a noise, it sounded something like gratitude. With a loud crack, he disappeared. Claire rubbed her eyes in surprise.</p><p>Once the shock wore off, Claire became aware that she was alone in a stranger's flat. She found herself at a loss. She should leave, and yet, it would feel preemptive to leave immediately, in case he came back with questions. Maybe she should leave a note? It was completely natural for the man to need his space, it was just not something she had known that wizards could do. Not that disappearing wasn't absolutely what she should expect from magic. Idly, she looked around the place. He had a telephone, she noted. It would be worth getting his number, if she could. Cautiously, she approached the phone, looking around it to see if she could find it written somewhere. Next to the phone, Claire noticed a card with two phone numbers on, one said ‘Mary’ next to it. She noted it down, scribbling down her own number next to it.</p><p>Going home felt even more surreal than leaving. In her mind, Claire tried to fit Remus Lupin into her understanding of this world, of James and Lily. The patchwork of stories she'd heard, snippets she'd observed from her visits to Dumbledore. It was chaotic at best. And so odd, that an entire war could have taken place within her country, a war against the very existence of muggles like herself, and yet, so many people had been none the wiser. It seemed ludicrous. She began to wonder what else she had missed. Reality was rapidly becoming something she could no longer trust.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy Jegulus week guys!! Hope you're having the time of your lives.<br/>Yes it's like 1 am on the same day lol (so yes I'm maybe still tipsy, come @ me)<br/>Writing Claire is slightly weird so I just projected a bit</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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